Features of the VMR

The ability to plug in your own compositing component to implement effects and transitions between multiple video streams entering the VMR.

True windowless rendering. It is no longer necessary to make the video playback window a child of the application's window in order to contain video playback. The VMR's new windowless rendering mode allows applications to easily host video playback within any window without having to forward window messages to the renderer for renderer-specific processing.

A new renderless playback mode where applications can supply their own allocator component to get access to the decoded video image prior to it being displayed on the screen.

Improved support for PCs equipped with multiple monitors.

Support for Microsoft's new DirectX Video Acceleration architecture.

Support for high-quality video playback concurrently on multiple windows.

Support for DirectDraw Exclusive Mode

100% backward-compatibility with existing applications.

Support for frame stepping and a reliable way to capture the current image being displayed.

The ability for applications to easily alpha-blend their own static image data (such as channel logos or UI components) with the video in a smooth flicker-free way.

The VMR-9 supports all the features listed above, plus:

The ability to process video data directly with Direct3D APIs such as pixel shaders.